Biographical info:
Born: May 6, 1900 (Portis, Kansas)
Died: December 1980 (Burbank, Ca)
Imdb history
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More about Millar:
Melvin Millar was born in Portis Kansas and
graduated from Portis High School
in 1918. After going to the Kansas City Art School he went out to
Hollywood where he became a story writer for
Leon Schlesinger's
Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. This
lasted from approximately
1937-1945. Note that Melvin Millar
was actually born with the last name "Miller" -
he changed his name when he went west.
After starting his career at WB, Millar
began to slip little references to his hometown
into the cartoons by hiding it's name in the background
or even using it for a character name. Among these were
Bingo Crosbyana (Freleng, 1936),
Porky's Pet
(King, 1936) , Porky of
the North Woods (Tashlin, 1936) ,
Porky's Road Race
(Tash, 1937) , "Sniffles and the Bookworm" and "The Case of the Stuttering Pig".
The town of Portis was proud enough of him to create
a special memorial. A picture of it
is shown here.
Because Millar worked on Porky Pig cartoons so often, the monument includes
a picture of the famous pig.
In addition to the "Portis" gags, Millar's name also appeared
in cartoon backgrounds from time to time. For example, one sees a bottle of
"Three Star Millar" in "Billboard Frolics". Visitors are encouraged
to visit "Millar Manor" in
Porky's Pet (King, 1936) ,
and a local business is named "Millar's Dry Goods" in
Porky the Fireman
(Tashlin, 1938) . And finally, in
Russian Rhapsody (Clampett, 1944) there
is a gremlin caricature of him (the one with a tack on his
head).
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